GIS
Spatial Database
Design
and
Modeling

GIS Data Base Modeling

Included below are parts of several spatial projects that I have worked on, links to papers and presentations, more general information and links about Spatial Database mapping.

One of the spatial database mapping projects that I was involved in was for a summer project at Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site in Nova Scotia. The project was divided into two main sections that were indirectly inter-related to one other. The first major part of the project was the compilation of digital line work and the creation of a GIS spatial database of forest stands found within the campground.

Basic overview of Spatial Data base design

The second part of the project was focused on generating a GIS spatial database of the vegetation found within each campsite that was collected during a Rapid Vegetation
Assessment (RVA) Survey.

If you do not fully understand the fundamentals of spatial database design and management, then you may never unleash the power of GIS. Behind almost all colorful maps that you see around is a complex data management framework and structured spatial data that required special attention to issues of scale, accuracy and projection issues.

A database can be defined as a collection of interrelated information or data, managed and stored together as a collective unit. A GIS spatial database is a database that includes collections of information about the spatial location, relationship and shape of topological geographic features and the data in the form of attributes.

A Well designed Spatial Database is Key

The design of the spatial database is the formal process of analyzing facts about the real world into a structured model. Database design is characterized by the following phases: requirement analysis, logical design and physical design. In more common terms, you basically need a plan, a design layout and then the data to complete the process.

Having a solid well designed spatial database is the key to performing good Spatial Analysis. The database can be complex and designed with expensive sophisticated software or can be merely a simple well organized collection of data that can be utilized in a geographic form.

Three main categories of spatial modeling functions that can be applied to geographic features within a GIS are:

geometric models, such as calculating the Euclidean distance between features, generating buffers, calculating areas and perimeters, and so on;
coincidence models, such as topological overlay; and
adjacency models (path finding, redistricting, and allocation).

All three model categories support operations on spatial data such as points, lines, polygons, tins, and grids. Functions are organized in a sequence of steps to derive the desired information for analysis.

Examples of GIS Spatial Database and Modeling

MacKinnon E (2004) Spatial GIS Vegetation Database and GIS Spatial Modeling for the Jeremy’s
Bay Campground of Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site.